


Great Beyond, The

by westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist



Category: The West Wing
Genre: Episode Tag, Episode: s02e09 Galileo, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2005-02-17
Updated: 2005-02-17
Packaged: 2019-05-15 21:10:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,812
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14798018
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist/pseuds/westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist
Summary: This can be read as a stand alone butfollows on  from `Confession', `Unsaid' and `Acrossthe Night' in my head.





	Great Beyond, The

**Author's Note:**

> A copy of this work was once archived at National Library, a part of the [ West Wing Fanfiction Central](https://fanlore.org/wiki/West_Wing_Fanfiction_Central), a West Wing fanfiction archive. More information about the Open Doors approved archive move can be found in the [announcement post](http://archiveofourown.org/admin_posts/8325).

> Author: Francesca   
>  Ficdom: The West Wing 
> 
> Title: The Great Beyond  
>  Genre: CJ Cregg/Sam Seaborn   
> Rating: CHILD - YTEEN   
> Set: Post Ep #209 - #31 " _Galileo_ " Spoilers: Only if you've never seen this episode.   
> Disclaimers: I don't own the characters (I wish) but am just borrowing them for a while I will put them back - honest. The lyrics are by REM and the song is `The Great Beyond'.
> 
> This can be read as a stand alone but follows on from `Confession', `Unsaid' and `Across the night' in my head.
> 
> Credits: Karen - for the beta read, the suggestions and the additional angst. Elizabeth for beta reading when she can.
> 
> I'm sitting at my desk wishing I had something I could throw. It's been that kind of a night
> 
> So anyway C.J is great in bed .Now there was a visual I didn't need, possibly because I can imagine more than enough by myself. And while fantasising about her is one thing, doing it in the Oval office in front of the President is another thing. And I shouldn't have had that thought, 'doing it in the Oval office', bad thoughts... Good thoughts, but bad.
> 
> So why I am having these thoughts, why am I contemplating the Press Secretary and her greatness, in bed or anywhere else? You know when you know that your day has the possibility to go horribly wrong? We've all had days like that, from the moment you get out of bed you just know. This really wasn't supposed to be that day, it really wasn't.
> 
> The morning was fine; I worked on a new speech for the President. Well maybe 'fine' is putting a little too much shine on it; I had to work with a guy from NASA who was a little trying. But hey, we're the major leagues and 'trying' doesn't even bother me anymore. Though I still can't believe I do this every day, I'm walking a tightrope with no safety net and only Toby, C.J and Josh to catch me if I fall. But we make a difference and the President's the real thing, and if I stumble they'll steady me, and if they fall I'll catch them. So it looked like a quiet day, one where I might even get out of the office before 9.
> 
> It was looking good and then C.J dropped the bomb.
> 
>   
> 
> 
> "The President wants us to go to the Kennedy Centre concert tonight so we can discuss broader themes for the televised classroom."
> 
>   
> 
> 
> "Great!" hey I get to spend some time with C.J I'm not arguing here.
> 
> "Great?" she doesn't sound too sure and I'm wondering if she had plans tonight, and I don't want to go there, C.J dating might just kill me. But what I say is:
> 
> "It should be about more than rocks and average rainfall."
> 
> "Oh God, does it rain on Mars?"
> 
> "No, but I'm saying...." is that you look great in an evening dress and I'm not passing up the opportunity to have you to myself for a while.
> 
> "The White House should develop a broader theme."
> 
> I smile "That's right and I think it's incredible the President's asked the two of us. It's a privilege and we should attack with energy due the moment" and somewhere at the back of my mind I wonder if the President's playing matchmaker, which is mildly disturbing.
> 
>   
> 
> 
> Then C.J dropped the bomb "Mallory's going to be there."
> 
> You know when the ground's going to open up and swallow you whole?
> 
> What happens if Mallory sees me with C.J, what if she sees? I think Mal knows there's someone I care for; she doesn't know who and it could be a disaster if she did. What happens when I have to stand between Mallory and C.J the woman who loves me, or thinks she does and the woman I love and pretend nothing's happening? There's something slowly growing, I think, between C.J and me - and if Mallory treads on it.
> 
> "I can't go."
> 
> "God, Sam, I would think that faced with the privilege of attacking with energy due the moment..." My lady mocks me and though I love the fact she teases me, right now C.J it's not helping.
> 
> "Screw the moment. I can't go." And yes I have a good reason and I can't tell you why.
> 
> "Well, I'm afraid -- as we used to say in my hometown -- that's just hard cheese."
> 
> "That's a real Algonquin Round Table you grew up with, C.J."
> 
> "Hey, that is like the fourth time I've been called dumb today." Oh C.J I'm not calling you dumb, it's the last thing in the world you are. You're the woman of my dreams, would you mind if I called you that? Would you mind if everyone knew?
> 
> I stop walking, I've got to give C.J a reason, give her something or she's going to start digging, and if she starts asking me why, I might just tell her, and the middle of the hallway in the West Wing is NOT the place to have `the conversation'." I never called her after the picture..." I pause "...of me and Laurie in the newspaper. I never called her and she never called me."
> 
> C.J's looking at me "You haven't spoken to her since the picture?"
> 
> "No." Things were getting strained anyway, and after Rosslyn, after holding C.J in my arms for the longest 9 and ½ seconds of my life, how could I go back to pretending that anyone else is going to be enough?
> 
> "What about the shooting? You didn't see her at the hospital?"
> 
> "No. I mean, I did, but no. She started seeing someone else." She mouthed some platitudes about Josh, just the once and then turned on her heel and left." Josh was barely alive, You, Leo, Toby and I were running the show there wasn't time to pick up a phone."
> 
> "Sam, didn't I tell you not to get a crush on the boss' daughter?" She starts walking again.
> 
> "Yeah." Oh C.J you don't know the half of it, would you have told me not to fall in love with you too? "Don't you have a vegetable crisis to fix or something?"
> 
> "Yes."
> 
> "Okay." She leaves me standing there and I watch her go, tonight could be heaven but it's looking very much like hell just now. If my luck carries on like this I'm just going to lock my office door and hide.
> 
> So that was my morning.
> 
> My evening began to look up, though, when I saw C.J. She had on this gorgeous dress, royal blue, and the bodice had this willow pattern design embroidered on it. And yes I know before you say it; I did pay a lot of attention to C.J's bodice. She was talking to Toby when I saw her, so she didn't notice my reaction, thank God. I mean I'm a speechwriter, amongst other things, I'm not supposed to be rendered speechless by the sight of a woman in an evening gown. But I was. What do you say to a woman who makes your heart pound and your mouth go dry? If you figure it out then let me know.
> 
> I walked up to them, and said "sorry" `cause I was running a little late, the fact I'd been standing looking at C.J hadn't helped matters but I didn't need to share that with them...
> 
> Toby asked me if I was going , I told him I was, I mean I'm not in the habit of sitting in my office writing speeches in a tuxedo, at least not unless I have to. I'm not sure if Toby is disappointed the President asked me to go rather than him, or if it's that CJ is going somewhere he is not. He brought C.J to the campaign the same way Josh brought me, they go back a long way and he's quite protective of her. Josh and I spent a while back on the campaign trail trying to work out of it was romantic, but it doesn't seem to be. Let's face it if Toby was the competition I wouldn't have a hope in hell. Then again I'm not sure I have a hope in hell now.
> 
> C.J stops to talk to Carol and Toby and I keep walking.
> 
> "Please, let's remember, it's not like we were dating. It was a flirtation. We had one date. The rest were all with groups of people and..." I'm babbling, I know I am but I don't want Toby to give me the `be careful with C.J and don't put a foot out of line' lecture. Because if I promise Toby I'll behave, then I'll have to behave….If Toby knew what I was thinking right now he wouldn't give me a lecture, he'd probably lock me in the mural room and give me the longest talking to of my life, with diagrams. That's if he didn't hit me first....
> 
> I stop walking and Toby does too.
> 
> "I don't know, I don't even know what dating is anymore." But I'd like to find out, and with your best friend.
> 
> "Well, that's 20 seconds of my life I'm never going to get back." Oh Toby if only you knew. I could give you a coronary right here, right now, in less than 20 seconds with five words "I'm in love with C.J". But I don't, there's so much I don't say, that I'm not saying. It's like the story of the Elephant in the room, no one talks about it but they know it's there. This is my elephant.
> 
> C.J catches up with us and takes my hand and carries on going dragging me with her. She doesn't need to drag me; I'd follow her wherever she asked, on my knees if I had to. I know, I know I've got it bad, but have you SEEN C.J?
> 
> We had a good drive to the Kennedy Centre, chatted about the small stuff; she was still holding my hand in the car. This woman makes me feel 17, and an awkward 17. Is it crazy to feel so happy about just holding hands?
> 
> We got separated at the Kennedy Centre; she had to go brief the President. Me, I was hiding from Mallory, and thinking that C.J only let go of my hand when we pulled up at the door. I was leaning on a balcony by the boxes thinking about that and playing with my champagne flute when Mallory found me.
> 
> It didn't go great, I babbled, she told me she was dating Richard Andrewchuk and I teased her about it. But it headed off the bigger conversation, like why I didn't call, why we didn't date, and the million dollar question who was I in love with. Because that's the ultimate question, that's the deal breaker, the one that if I answer then it goes downhill way fast. We have a non-fraternisation policy in the West Wing, in plain English we don't date each other, if we did, if we could then Josh and Donna by right would be married by now, and Leo and Margaret would be spending time making out in the broom cupboard in Leo's office. And that's before you get to Leo and Toby and Josh's reactions, and most importantly C.J's. I don't know how she feels and it's not like I can ask. I was saved, not by the bell but by a message from Leo, and there's irony in that somewhere. She didn't say anything when I left, which means the conversation's not ended only postponed for a while, and aren't I delighted about that?.
> 
> I ended up briefing the President, a fire in a Russian Missile Silo was just the distraction I was looking for! The explosion occurred while liquid hydrogen was being drained. I mean, my night just keeps getting better and better.
> 
> But then it was okay again, I actually got to listen to some music with the President and this stunning woman I'm quite in love with. That is until a woman came in and disturbed our new found peace, CJ had a call to take from Toby so she left us. And by the time Josh called me and I had to make my excuses, CJ still wasn't back
> 
> I was sitting in the car talking to Josh and that's when Mallory sprung the ambush. I have no idea how women can move so quietly in high heels, but they can and they do. We ended up talking, but mainly about Mars and Galileo V. Talking with your sort of ex can be tough at the best of times, talking with your sort of ex who is also your boss's daughter - that's tricky, and all the time trying to avoid the elephant.
> 
> I was rescued, by C.J and I don't know what she thought was happening when she rode to my rescue but I just hope it was nowhere close to the truth. I saw Mal' looking at me while C.J was standing there and I'm just glad I have a better poker face than Josh does, or right now I'd be a smoking hole in the ground.
> 
> C.J and I rode back to the White House together, but this time she didn't hold my hand. Her hand lay on the seat between us; I wanted so much to hold her fingers in mine. But that would have been too forward, and while I clung to her she would have guessed my secret. And she can't guess my secret, can she? One step forward and two steps back, story of my life.
> 
> We all ended up in the Oval Office, me, Toby, C.J and Josh, ready to brief the President after he'd met with Leo and the Russian Ambassador about the Silo Fire. We covered Galileo V, and were moving on to the Stamp issue that Leo had given Toby and Toby had shunted down to Josh. And then my night just got stranger because C.J was telling the President what was next, and it came out like this:
> 
> "...the stamp, and depending on who those people were that were standing near me, the possibility of a story about me being good in bed."
> 
> Toby's head shot up like he'd been stung, you'd have though someone had started spreading rumours about his sister. "Good in bed?"
> 
> C.J. nodded, I leaned forward so I could look past Josh and Toby and watch her and I swear she was blushing "Yes".
> 
> "Why?" Toby demanded.
> 
> "Because I am." C.J's smoothing her dress with her hands and looking as though she wants to be having this conversation anywhere else but in front of the President and I'll be honest, my imagination's doing back flips.
> 
> I think Toby's decided he's on shaky ground here because all he says is "Okay".
> 
> The President, keeping to the safe subjects, asks "Green beans?"
> 
> Toby's still giving C.J strange looks, that look as though big brother's going to sit her down and give her a good talking to, probably with diagrams…and I'm not going there just now. But what he says is "Let's do a photo-op with the President... eating green beans. We can drop in a quote. He's always looking for new green bean... recipes."
> 
> Josh takes up the thread, you can hear the wheels spinning "next time we're in California, we schedule a pop in Oregon; make sure nothing's burned down."
> 
> The President looks at us and mutters "Yeah, okay. What about the stamp?"
> 
> "Here's the thing" Josh begins "the Citizen's Stamp Advisory Committee..."
> 
> And that's when it happens, that's when it really starts to happen. Because C.J is whispering to Toby, and I'm still leaning forward watching her, and I can hear her like she's standing next to me, which I admit I wish she was. "He doesn't like Green Beans".
> 
> The President looks over because this isn't like C.J and asks "What?"
> 
> She looks a little chastised "I'm sorry, sir. Nothing."
> 
> Josh continues "The Citizen's Stamp Advisory Committee..."
> 
> But he gets interrupted, and C.J has this look on her face, and though she's still sometimes a little wary of wading in this time she's got the wind in her sails and she's off, and it's a sight to see.
> 
> "No, I'm sorry. I said you don't like green beans, sir."
> 
> Toby's looking at her as though she's lost it big time, but all he says is "C.J?" Like I said though she's got a point she wants, no needs, to make and even Toby's not derailing her now.
> 
> "He doesn't enjoy them. He doesn't think they're bad for you, and he doesn't think the people who make them are evil. They're simply not his cup of tea. He doesn't care for them. Why do we think the adults of Oregon would be okay with that if put to them just that way?"
> 
> C.J turns and looks at Josh. "And Josh, why do you think the people, adult Americans, why do you think they can't understand that we can honour a man's contribution without necessarily subscribing to his politics? They can understand a lot of things. People stopped trusting the government during Vietnam, and it was because government stopped trusting them. It's a cautionary tale, Josh."
> 
> Josh stops, looks at her and says the only thing I think he can "Okay. I was gonna say I think we should put them on a stamp."
> 
> She's surprised but all she says is "Oh... Okay. Good."
> 
> Josh smiles "Yeah."
> 
> It's the President though who wraps it up "All right. Everybody go away. We'll call you back when there's a NASA update."
> 
> The only thing I say is "Thank you."
> 
> "Thank you, Mr. President."
> 
> "Thank you, sir."
> 
> Josh and C.J. continue to whisper to each other while walking out and then the President called C.J back into the Oval office.
> 
> We're walking back down to the bullpen and Toby's laughing like a proud father and muttering "well how do you like them apples Josh?" Josh is smiling now "Better than the president likes Green Beans". I'm quiet, enjoying the banter between them, the fact I'm here and the fact I've just seen C.J let go on something she believes in. She's the public face of the administration, after the President she's the most visible person in it. She spends so much time delivering our message and spinning our stories that it's hard to find out what she truly believes because as she's always said what she believes isn't the story, but when she stands up for what she does believe in, lets just say I don't want to be the one who gets in her way, but I'd like a front row seat. And if it's like tonight then I want to be in the front row cheering her on.
> 
> So that's why I'm in here, that's why I'm wishing there was something I could throw at the wall. I look out of my office window at the night sky, because of the light glare I can't see anything but the brightest stars though I know more are out there, though at least one may be a Delta flight out of Dulles. I know NASA's still working on re-establishing contact with Galileo V though I don't know what if any success they're going to have. I wasn't lying when I told Mallory I believe that Mars is what's next. For we came out of the cave, and we looked over the hill, and we saw fire. And we crossed the ocean, and we pioneered the West, and we took to the sky. The history of man is hung on the timeline of exploration, and this is what's next.
> 
> I look at the sky for a while and then turn back to my desk, there's still work to do, speeches to write, I've got at least six briefing papers I should be reading but what I do is reach for the `phone and punch in an extension. I listen to it ring and am relived when it's answered.
> 
> "C.J?"
> 
> "Yes"
> 
> "It's me. It's been a long night do you fancy a drink at the Hawk and Dove?" I'm trying to keep my voice even as though it's no big deal.
> 
> "I'd love to" is what she says and I let out the breath I didn't realise I'd been holding.
> 
> "Meet you at the entrance?"
> 
> She makes an affirmative noise and hangs up.
> 
> I'm taking C.J for a drink, I'm wearing a tux, she's in her Armani and we're going to go sit in a booth in the Hawk and Dove drink beer and rearrange the world. It's a small step, but it's in the right direction.
> 
> "The Great Beyond"
> 
> I've watched the stars fall silent from your eyes All the sights that I have seen I can't believe that I believed I wished That you could see There's a new planet in the solar system There is nothing up my sleeve
> 
> I'm pushing an elephant up the stairs I'm tossing up punch lines that were never there Over my shoulder a piano falls Crashing to the ground
> 
> In all this talk of time Talk is fine But I don't want to stay around Why can't we pantomime, just close our eyes And sleep sweet dreams Me and you with wings on our feet
> 
> I'm pushing an elephant up the stairs I'm tossing up punch lines that were never there Over my shoulder a piano falls Crashing to the ground
> 
> I'm breaking through I'm bending spoons I'm keeping flowers in full bloom I'm looking for answers from the great beyond
> 
> I want the hummingbirds, the dancing bears Sweetest dreams of you I Look into the stars I Look into the moon
> 
> I'm pushing an elephant up the stairs I'm tossing up punch lines that were never there Over my shoulder a piano falls Crashing to the ground
> 
> I'm breaking through I'm bending spoons I'm keeping flowers in full bloom I'm looking for answers from the great beyond
> 
> I'm breaking through I'm bending spoons I'm keeping flowers in full bloom I'm looking for answers from the great Answers from the great, answers
> 
> I'm breaking through I'm bending spoons I'm keeping flowers in full bloom I'm looking for answers from the great beyond
> 
> I'm breaking through I'm bending spoons I'm keeping flowers in full bloom I'm looking for answers from the great Answers from the great, answers
> 
> I'm breaking through I'm bending spoons I'm keeping flowers in full bloom I'm looking for answers from the great beyond


End file.
